Beginners Guide to caring for your AI
by iridescent-ren
Summary: Shirota Mahiru, likes simple things and hates troublesome things. He never could have guessed the turn his life would take when he picked up a strange cat off the streets.. Alternatively, Artificial Intelligence AU!
1. Live a little!

Mahiru sighed, slipping his orange headphones around his neck, the weekends were always boring. As strange as many found it, he loved school, and he loved hanging out with his friends but it never changed the slight loneliness that his apartment brought. It wasn't his Uncle's fault that he was never there, he was working overseas at the Robocentenics (RC) company, the one that manufactured AI machines.

He had secretly been wanting one, but he had to remind himself it was just a stupid bot that helped with the cooking and cleaning, not to mention it was ridiculously expensive. Not that he needed any help, there was already automatic dusters and ovens that understood your commands and cooked your food for you, but sometimes Mahiru enjoyed to do things the old way by getting a broom out. He chuckled remembering how shocked his friends were that he still had a broom and used it, his thoughts always seemed to drift back to his friends, Mahiru ran a hand through his short brown hair.

Mahiru walked over to his desk, hopping on the blue floating chair and letting it bounce before sliding himself over to his touch screen. He pressed a small button for the display to appear, before looking up AI models out of pure curiosity. He never bothered to learn much about them, only the filthy rich had them so it wasn't like he was ever going to get one, but since his uncle worked there it was worth a shot to at least look. Besides, the bartender at his usual place was an unusual Ai, and it couldn't help but intrigue him.

The technology endlessly fascinated him, but of course he preferred things the simple way. He saw a sample image of a male and a female, of course they were very standard. The female had average length brown hair with neat bangs and brown eyes, while the male had an army cut with brown eyes. Their proportions were unrealistic although considering the target audience he could see why.

He opened one of the web pages and read through the information.

All AI models at first appear in a small holographic test size on their launch pad, this small version can do things such as alarms, games and very basic conversation but for more practical tasks they can be ordered to essentially jump off the launch pad and the hologram becomes life-size with more detailed features and the ability to interact with the environment around them if ordered. AI models range from 1 - 100 and there are different versions of our Ais to suit your needs. These Ais can be adapted with mods and installations such as hair colour, eye colour and even outfits. A new update to our system allows these modifications to go as far as animals and inanimate objects.

They looked just like humans.. Mahiru thought reading the site, It was amazing his Uncle worked for the place that made them, the only difference was that it's feet pixelated off making it hover just above the floor. There were so many things you could get for them, it was incredibly customizable. He scrolled through some of the designs people had come up with, they looked incredible…

Mahiru huffed in jealousy, giving up and turning off the display, lightly putting his feet on the ground to slide himself over to check his phone. He boredly flicked through his notifications, he had already gotten his hands on every single dirty part of the apartment until it was spotless, but he still found himself with nothing to do.. Maybe he would text Koyuki and Ryusei to ask if they wanted to hang out? He mused to himself before putting his earpiece in and asking it to call Annoying Duo (his contact name for the pair of them, so he could call and text the group at once. He figured it was fairly accurate) It was annoying he couldn't just call through the headphones.

"Ah.. What do you want" Ryusei answered the call bluntly, but Mahiru paid it no mind, he was always like that.

"Morning Mahiru!" Koyuki on the contrast enthusiastically greeted.

"Hey guys! Well, I was thinking since it's a weekend we should hang out, anywhere you wanna go?" Mahiru suggested in reply, a second passed as they thought about it.

"hm.. How about we reserve a VR room? Me and Koyuki have a project coming up soon so we can probably get some inspiration from that" Ryusei casually suggested, he and Koyuki studied VR designing. Koyuki worked on the visuals and 3D art, while Ryusei worked on the science behind it and the engineering. They were opposite jobs but they were always partnered together on tasks, since they worked perfectly together. They were lucky they figured out where they were going in life, Mahiru still had no clue.

"Ah and we can get milkshakes after!" Koyuki excitedly added on, and Mahiru grinned at the idea.

"Sounds good! I'll meet you guys at the town centre in 10?" to which he got small hums of agreement, "See you there!"

Mahiru grabbed his jumper off the back of the chair, sliding it on and running out the door, not needing anything else. Luckily he was just in time for the airbus, the hover technology was incredible, and super-fast too. Although poor Ryusei would have to walk.. In such a high functioning society how had they not found a temporary relief of car sickness?

He hopped on the bus and in almost no time he was at the busy centre, despite it still being daytime dazzling lights spun all around and 3D advertisement holograms flew in the sky while AI's handed out flyers for various different things to passing by strangers. Mahiru gave a large smile at the familiar environment, sure it wasn't simple, but it was fascinating none the less.

He noticed Koyuki and Ryusei waving him over and he lightly jogged his way over, passing by plenty of shops and businesses.

"You ready to go in?" Koyuki asked with a smile, they were waiting in front of the place. There was no need for small talk, they could talk inside. "I heard there's an underwater special today!" he said excitedly to which Ryusei gave a nod in confirmation.

"Well if it's special, thinking simply we should go in that one" Mahiru replied proudly using his motto as the other two chuckled.

As they walked in the door and rented out a room for three, the payment was sent to their accounts via their ID on their earpiece. The room was completely dark, aside from the blue glow coming from the VR beds. They all got into their own one, as a staff member enclosed it and pulled down the lid leaving them in the darkness.

It was as if he was being taken into a new universe, a feeling he could never quite get over or describe. He wasn't trapped in the small cocoon, it was as if he was in an endless environment with no physical boundaries. A little hover message appeared in front of them and as they read the basic rules pixels flew around them forming what looked like the sea.

: Welcome to the underwater virtual reality! Please remember the rules, do not attempt to interact with any of the objects here, do not go past the off-limits signs, and remember if you need to leave the simulation at any point please click the red button on your outfit. Happy exploring!

You currently have 01:30:00 left :

Mahiru started looking around, noticing Koyuki and Ryusei next to him doing the same. It was weird, it felt like it wasn't his body, of course, that was because it wasn't, but it all felt so real. The water around him seemed so realistic, almost like it could wash him away, but he couldn't feel anything on his skin apart from the light bubbly feeling of floating.

It was clear with a simple blue taint to it, and small yellow and red fish swam past his face. He giggled at the slight ticklish feeling, starting to run away from the message, but he couldn't even call it running, he was practically floating! Ryusei looked like he was studying the process and testing his senses, meanwhile, Koyuki was playing with the fish and having the time of his life. No wonder people said virtual reality environments reduce stress.

He started moving towards the big sunken ship on the sea floor, landing himself on the grainy pale sand and watching the massive old rusty structure in front of him. It was wooden and on an angle as if it was stuck on its point, holes, moss and faded wood littered the broken ship. Soon enough Ryusei and Koyuki joined him in the front.

"UwAHH, that looks super cool! Is there a way in?" Koyuki said skipping up to it and looking for an entrance, while Ryusei calmly followed.

"Look over here!" Mahiru shouted, the vibrations from his yell causing an old wood panel to break off the ship. He pushed open the entrance at the bottom, a swarm of fish burst out hitting him smack in the face. He yelped and jumped back slightly, those creators knew that would happen to someone…

He brushed it off and went inside, pushing his way through the old wood into what looked like the cabins quarters. Mahiru looked around, dazzled by the scenery. There was small fish swimming around him, and a broken mirror glazed over on the wall. He walked over to the broken and worn down bed frame, noticing small shining pearls littering the floor. Of course in real life, this wouldn't work, but he could certainly appreciate the aesthetic.

He kept walking through the ship, finding more weird and interesting things, and eventually Koyuki pulled them both out of the ship with a large happy smile as they floated in the middle. He pushed his arms forward and both Ryusei and Mahiru got splashed in the face with realistic feeling water, at first they both were about to complain about it but the realisation of how cool it was took over.

"wait what was that?! That's awesome!" Mahiru commented, trying it out for himself and splashing Koyuki, Koyuki sputtered and rolled his eyes.

"that was unnecessary!" He jokingly whined, but neither of them saw Ryusei join the competition and splash them both in the face with a proud smirk.

"Let me make this clear, this is all for research" He commented jokingly as he saw Mahiru and Koyuki getting ready to splash back.

"Well in the name of research.." Koyuki giggled splashing him back until all three of them were in an all-out splash fight. Mahiru was clearly losing by a large margin, but he wouldn't let them win that easily.

Mahiru quickly moved back to the ship, grabbing a wide looking log. He couldn't seem to feel the wood in his hands, of course, that was too advanced for a local centre, but he knew it was there. He used it to send a massive wave, bowling Koyuki and Ryusei over in shock.

"It's on!" they both shouted in sync.

Mahiru laughed bubbly and ran down back to the ship, pushing open the rusty door and jumping inside, quickly ducking under the old bed frame from before and without warning the bed frame was blown away by a large wave from Koyuki and Ryusei who were holding back laughs.

He splashed back pathetically, trying to run away giggling before letting out a small yelp as they cornered him. The three burst out in smiles and exhausted laughter, and before they knew it another message popped up in front of them.

: Thankyou for trying out the Virtual Reality experience! You currently have 00:10:00 left:

"Only 10 mins?! Aww…" Koyuki whined, slumping over slightly. Of course while it was fun, it had to come to an end eventually.

Mahiru let his laughs die down before sighing, he hadn't laughed so much in a long time. They would have to go to another one soon.. He wanted to hang out with his friends more, something pinched him whenever he was alone at home.

"Before we go.. We haven't seen the mermaids yet!" Mahiru said suddenly, grabbing them both and running or floating as fast as he could towards the other end of the simulation that still appeared endless.

"Mermaids?" Ryusei said with a raised eyebrow, he wondered if they were interactive.

They reached a wall, specifically a wall of a kingdom. It must be the wall of the simulation, but it was a creative way of stopping players from going any further. Past the wall they could see mermaids swimming around and talking to each other in muffled voices, they had long pretty hair and shiny pale scales. It was a 2D video, but it just looked so real, Mahiru himself wished he could go and talk to one. They watched the video play before eventually knowing their time was up.

"I'll see you guys on the outside!" Koyuki said with a smile, putting out his fist.

"Mm!" Mahiru put his in and eventually, Ryusei did too with a smirk on his face.

Then slowly as if it was only a dream it faded to black, as if they had blinked he opened his eyes back at the room to see a lady opening their pods. He let his eyes wander to the sides, seeing Ryusei and Koyuki starting to wake up too as Mahiru sat up in his pod, dizzily stepping out.

"That was awesome!" He said with a wide grin "I can't believe you guys make things like this.. It's incredible!" Mahiru finished looking over at the other two exiting the pods.

"Ah! I'm not this good!" Koyuki said sheepishly while Ryusei without hesitation said "Yeah it's pretty cool"

"Well, there are two kinds of people.." Mahiru said giving them a weird look, they really were opposites.

"Well anyway, let's get drinks!" Koyuki suggested with a smile as they started walking out, wobbling a little bit from side to side, still feeling the giddiness of floating.

They walked out back onto the busy street, and as much as the simulation feeling was thrilling it was nice to have his feet on the ground again with the busy familiar sounds. They all decided on their usual spot, up in the sky tower nearby. They strolled by on their way to the place, passing by a small black cat seemingly sleeping on the side of the street and it made Mahiru's heart hurt, but he kept up with his friends thinking about the cat the whole way.

"The usual?" their bartender, Lawless, said with a smirk, already moving to the milkshake area and shaking up the flavours.

The shop was pretty popular, it was entirely run by AI's, even the bartender was one. He seemed to have quite the personality, Mahiru could only imagine what his commands must have been, it was incredible how they were made these days. All three nodded at the question, and while Lawless put on the machines they started talking.

"What are you two planning for your project you guys mentioned? Koyuki have you decided on a theme?" Mahiru said leaning over in curiosity.

"I was thinking something from the past! Like a look into what life used to be like at an average town a couple hundred years ago, the research will also be marked so I think I can impress the teacher with that too!" He said excitedly, having already planned out designs in his head, although the buildings would be difficult to find references for.

"Mm.. I want to try more interactive things with it, maybe even adding moveable objects" Ryusei added, clearly both of them had their minds set on it being a good one.

"That's amazing you two! Good luck!" Mahiru said with a grin, giving them a thumbs up, his friends were so talented…

"Oh and Mahiru!, don't lie I saw you eyeing that cat back there" Ryusei started, giving Mahiru a nudge.

"eh-no! I just felt bad for it.." Mahiru said with a sigh, there's no way his uncle would agree to take care of a cat, even though he was never there… "It's too expensive anyway.."

"Get a job!" Lawless said, jumping in the conversation and leaning over the counter. "You were lonely because you live alone right? It's perfect" he added with a grin, "I can try to hook you up with someone"

"Lawless, you sound like a drug dealer…" Mahiru said giving him a small glare.

"Ah! That's a good idea Lawless! Mahiru, Mahiru let me get one with you!" Koyuki said, his shoulders rising with excitement.

"It's not a bad idea.. But schools too busy, I don't have time" he said giving another heavy sigh as he thought of the black cat again.

"Mahiru! Learn to live a little!" Lawless said giving him a light punch in the arm before giving him a wink, "Don't think about the consequences, just get it!" Mahiru could have forgotten he wasn't talking to a human.

"That's probably terrible advice but I think you're right! Thinking simply. If no one else will… it has to be me!" Mahiru said with new found determination.

"That's the spirit, take your milkshake on the go, I'm sure your friends can pay for your drink," He said handing Mahiru the simple medium vanilla milkshake.

"Hey?!" Ryusei and Koyuki both said as Mahiru grabbed the milkshake and ran, running back to the same spot he found the cat to see it hadn't moved an inch.

He smiled warmly at it, noticing it already had a little golden bell around its neck, how cute… he wrapped his hands around it's stomach and picked him up, "You're coming home with me buddy" he said happily as it opened its red confused eyes, looking around to see why it happened to be in the air.

He held the cat close to his chest and started to walk home, pets weren't allowed on transport of course, and he was sure it would terrify the poor cat.

"I think.. I think I made the right choice" he said contently, as the small cat in his arms curled up cutely, and the tugging loneliness seemed to drift away. But what would he name it.. He watched the cat as he walked, what was a simple name.. Well he was a black cat, so thinking simply,

"I'll name you Kuro!"


	2. Rouge AI?

A/N: Hey hey and welcome to another chapter! I hope I didn't take too long to update! I'm sorry for the wait! Once again please leave a comment if you liked it, and check out the credits at the end 3 Thankyou all so much ! Tbh I'm not really sure how happy I am with the pacing of this chapter, I spent a long time fiddling with it but in the end I just decided to leave it ^^' I hope you like it regardless!

ALSO I SPENT SO LONG RESEARCHING HOW TO MAKE A DAMN VANILLA CAKE DDJDKKMDEKJR I cant bake im sorry

Mahiru grinned happily as he brought the sleeping cat home, he gently scratched behind its ears as he walked in the door calling out "I'm home!" to one in particular. He continued scratching behind the ear until he felt a glitchy nothingness, he yelped in shock and almost dropped the cat as the yellow bell strung around his neck changed into a palm size grey AI launch pad, and the cat dissolved into a human appearance floating on top of the grey circle.

"W..w…what the hell are you?!" Mahiru yelled, holding the launch pad far away from him in fear.

"I'm Kuro your super cute personalized Artificial Intelligence, Model 25, Version 500, I hope we get along nya~" The AI known as Kuro said although Mahiru doubted it was the set introduction, Kuro put his hands up and folded them over, tilting his head in a cute pose. Mahiru pondered over the fact that he referred to himself as the name Mahiru gave him, surely they had set names?

He wasn't a standard model that was clear, far from it. He had long messy blue hair with the same striking red eyes and dark bags under his eyes (Interesting design choice?). His outfit was an oversized jumper with grey and turquoise pixels and patterns with similarly patterned leggings and of course the signature floating legs.

"Oh my god.. I picked up an AI.." Mahiru said in horror, realizing the extent of the situation. He could only imagine what would happen, it might have been someone's AI and knowing the rich people that had them, what if they tracked him down for stealing?! "Do you have an owner?!" He asked quickly to the small machine.

"Nope, it's you now nya~" He said floating in a comfortable position on the launch pad.

Mahiru thought it over.. He had no owner? It was strange that an expensive AI was just lying around on the streets, especially since it was a modified and personalized AI. He could only dream of how much it would cost to get him. But thinking simply, if no one else owned him.. It should be him!

"Alright.. do you have a manual or something? I don't know anything about AI's…" Mahiru decided, feeling up the grey metal for some sort of instructions. "Also stop with the nyas! It's annoying!" Mahiru said bringing him over to the desk.

"Alright nya~ Kidding, I'll stop" Kuro said shoving his hands in his pockets casually.

Mahiru eyed him with suspicion, he didn't know a lot about Ais that was for sure, but he couldn't help but feel this one wasn't normal. Could Ais be sarcastic? Maybe it had been specially programmed for someone.. It would make sense with the custom outfit and appearance, it must have been expensive..

Mahiru jumped on top of the chair, swivelling himself over to Kuros launch pad and continuing to look at it. Underneath the launch pad there was a code 'AIM25-V500 : H' and he just looked at it in confusion. Didn't he say his name was Kuro? Why did he not introduce himself as Sleepy Ash like he should have been programmed too?

"Hey what the hell's going on with you.. Is there an error in your programming…." Mahiru mused, remembering the website from before. "R-right, uh, Virus check!" he yelled at the small digital human, who raised an eye brow at him as if he was crazy.

"Sorry did I get the code word wrong.. What was it.." Mahiru continued thinking, he could look it up later. If he was going to have his own AI he'd have to learn a bit more about them. "Well anyway, tell me about you, what sort of things can you do?" Mahiru asked him, slumping on the desk ready to listen to him.

"Model 25 Artificial intelligence can do many different tasks, and can be programmed with knowledge to assist you in study or otherwise. Please choose a category" It said in a bored monotone voice as if reciting a speech, that seemed to put Mahiru's mind at ease from the previous suspicions. It's not like he really knew anything about them, he couldn't say anything.

"Hmm.. Practical housework?" He asked curiously,

"This AI is capable of most simple household tasks such as; washing, cleaning, babysitting, preparing meals and many more" Kuro said with the same bored monotone, almost a sarcastic hint to his husky voice.

"Woah.. Let's see.. Kuro, make me a snack?" He asked sliding the chair away from the desk so Kuro could move into the lifesize form, if he was being honest he just really wanted to see what he would look like full size. He had seen other custom Ais like Lawless but curiosity still flowed into his actions.

"Ehh.. Such a pain I could just die…" He mumbled

"Eh? Wait was that-" "Yeah alright" Kuro cut off Mahiru by lifting his knees up and jumping off the Launch pad onto the ground, as his form grew in size and a seemingly normal human stood in front of him, the Launch pad slowly dissolved into a small yellow bell he saw around the cats neck as Kuro put it around his neck.

Mahiru noticed he was tall.. He was really tall, of course it didn't help that he was slouching over but still the fact remained. Apart from the size, he was very similar to his Launch pad version but a lot more humanoid with a lot more vivid expressions, his eyes held a darkness he couldn't even begin to understand.. It was almost hard to believe he wasn't real. Although the pixelated floating feet were a dead giveaway.

He couldn't help but awe at the man, he really did look real, and if he was real, he was good looking too.

"One second" Kuro said breaking Mahiru out of his thoughts and slouching over, walking to the kitchen. "What do you want?" He said casually opened cupboards and checking out the fridge, "You should buy instant ramen" he continued suggesting before Mahiru had a chance to speak.

"No! It's unhealthy!" Mahiru shot back with a huff, "and what kind of advice is that?!"

The hologram simply shrugged, "Dunno, liked the idea of it I guess…" he said looking down, almost not understanding his own words. "Well what do you want?" Kuro finished before Mahiru could comment on it.

"oh… just tea thanks, it's in the left cupboard" Mahiru said watching him with curiosity, there was something off.. Was that really how Ais were meant to act? He could look it up later.

Kuro got out the tea and started lazily making it, occasionally sparing a glance back at the brown haired boy. He couldn't help but curiously think about the strange AI, was there some kind of logical explanation for it? There was no way he was human, that much was obvious. Mahiru just sighed, he didn't know what he was thinking. It was clearly a hologram, no matter what special programming it had that's still what it was.

Mahiru looked at his phone and lazily scrolled through his notifications to see a message from Koyuki that read 'Hey Mahiru! I'm in a pinch please help! I was meant to get something for Ryu-chan for our project but I totally forget and he's gonna kill me!' and let out a tiny chuckle, that meant he was going to have to go out later to get it for him. Poor Koyuki.

"You were a cat before right? Was that a mod?" He asked, considering the AI seemed to be particularly advanced in conversation, it almost seemed like you were talking to a conscious being.

"Mm.. 'Cat-V12', I have it equipped all the time but I can choose to use it" he answered, finishing up the tea and bringing it over to the desk.

"Woah.. That's amazing" Mahiru said in awe, taking the warm tea into his hands taking a small sip and listening to Kuro. "Can you turn into the cat like.. Now?"

"God you're bossy.." the AI whined, the bell around his neck jingling as he poofed into a small cat on the floor. "Just relax and be soothed by how cute I am~"

"Like hell I will!" Mahiru rolled his eyes, were Ais meant to be this sassy? He wouldn't deny it was an adorable cat.. But that was beside the point!

"This is complicated.. I'll just google your version and model later" Mahiru said rolling on his chair back to his display, "for now I'm working on an assignment, so go.. Do what Ais do?" he said, really having no clue what they did.

"Ah theres no need to google it, I can tell you everything" Kuro instantly replied, almost suspiciously fast compared to his other talk. "What Ais do isn't very specific" he said raising an eye brow, he really just wanted to sleep.

"Ah do whatever you want I guess" Mahiru said with a shrug as Kuro turned into a human again.

"Sweet thanks" He took his bell off, throwing it onto the nearby couch as it turned into a small launch pad his body dissolved, appearing on the launch pad again as he comfortably got into a position and closed his eyes.

Mahiru watched him before going back to the display, so AI's did sleep.. Maybe it was their way of charging? He shrugged it off to his lack of knowledge, before returning to the computer screen. What was it.. Model 25 version 500? He typed it into google, the first result he only got a tiny glance at seeing the word 'WANTED' before the power in his laptop cut out.

"Eh?! What the hell?!" he said as the display suddenly turned off.

"God this has gotten so troublesome.. I told you not to get involved" Kuro said with a large sigh, making Mahiru yelp and spin around to see he was behind him in his bigger form.

"h-huh? Kuro?" Mahiru managed to squeak out, whatever was happening wasn't normal and now he was sure, he almost felt threatened by the AI.

"… look calm down, I'll leave and you won't ever have to see me again, just pretend you never met me" He said coldly, sighing and hoping he didn't do too much damage to the poor kid. Mahiru watched the screen flicker and turn back on, but the tab was closed. As he turned to leave Mahiru grabbed the side of his realistic jumper,

"Wait! Sleepy Ash!" he called out, to get instantly cut off by "My name's Kuro.."

"Well Kuro! Wait up! You can't just leave" he said putting his hands on his hips in a motherly fashion with a lot more confidence than before. This was his Ai now.. And something was fishy! He wouldn't let him just walk off without an answer. "I want an explanation" he said flat out, demanding answers.

"Jeez.. Why are you so violent. I'll tell you on the condition that you listen to my requests afterward" He said seriously, leaning against the wall.

"Alright!" Mahiru said, smiling without hesitation. He knew he had a problem with trusting people so easily, but Kuro was an AI, what was the worst that could happen.

"haah what a pain.. Where to start.. First of all I'll tell you about Ais since you clearly know nothing" Mahiru gave a small huff but didn't deny and it and listened as he continued "We don't have personality, the most we can be programmed to have is a tone of voice and specific replies to specific words or questions. We can't disobey a direct order, and we can't treat our masters with anything but respect. That's all we're programmed to do after all" He started, listing off things he hadn't been doing.

"I'm not a normal AI, as I'm sure you figured. I'm.. What you'd call a Rouge AI I guess" He said vaguely with a shrug, "Well that's enough information for today, I'm tired"

"You just had a nap! And I still don't know what that means!" Mahiru said sighing at his unreliability.

"It means I was illegally programmed with thoughts and feelings" he said suddenly turning serious, his red eyes with a dark look that told Mahiru not to push it, he could feel the scary aura surrounding him. "Don't ask any further.. As for my request, I'm gonna stay here for a bit until I feel like leaving" he said going back to flop back down on the couch.

"hey wait?! Ask first!" Mahiru groaned, although he was glad that Kuro wasn't the scary one again. "and I still have questions.."

"too bad, sucks to be you"

"Oi!" Mahiru sighed and thought about it for a second "Well.. I guess that makes you like a human, so Kuro, I hope we can get along!" He finished with a smile.

"You said you had thoughts and feelings.. That means you have a personality right? Well what sort of things do you like?" Mahiru said with a kind tone, "You don't have to tell me everything yet, but if you're living here then I at least want to get to know you" he finished, something about Kuro just made him want to look after him and tell him he didn't have to worry despite having no clue what he was getting into.

Kuros face flushed in slight embarrassment, a strange twining feeling at his heart. "Ah well.. I like video games?" he said after a second of thought.

"Perfect! Let's play some games then" Mahiru said happily jumping up, "I don't have a lot.. Only Mario kart I think- oh and the legend of zelda! But that's one player" He said sorting through cupboards and getting out a Mario kart chip and sliding it into the portable TV box as the TV display digitalized itself in front of the couch.

"Don't worry if you aren't as good at first, it takes practice!" he said handing Kuro a remote. "Oh.. Do I need to give you permission to play or something?" Mahiru asked

"Nah, I don't have to listen to orders" he said taking the remote with a yawn, leaning back on the couch in a relaxed position and putting his legs up on Mahiru's lap.

"Get your feet off you damn AI- wait?! Hold up!" Mahiru said quickly getting his remote as Kuro was already picking characters and races.

Kuro ended up picking Boo, while Mahiru went with the simple option (Mario). They picked an average track, 'Yoshi falls' and started the countdown. 5..4..3..2..1 GO!

Mahiru raced off, leaning over in anticipation to find Kuro doing nothing but staring at the screen. "Oh! Do you know how to play? I'm sorry omg" Mahiru said, about to teach him how to move when he noticed Kuro's car teleporting in front of Mahiru's and Mahiru's car only moving backwards.

"Hey what the hell! That's you isnt it!" Mahiru said as he tried to go forwards only propelling himself backwards with a message in the corner of the screen 'Wrong way! Turn back!' mumbling to himself 'trust me I know..'

Kuro snickered and kept going a steady pace, out lapping Mahiru a few times before undoing it and letting Mahiru go forward. "Dirty cheater.." Mahiru said with a weak glare. In the end Kuro clearly won, it took Mahiru a couple mins after Kuro finished to catch up to the end.

"I'm using my abilities to aid me" he said with a shrug, still not phasing Mahiru's glare. "Wanna play again?" He asked.

"I'm almost curious as to how else you'll cheat.. Fine" Mahiru sighed accepting his defeat despite the unfair game. "But! We have to play rainbow road, no amount of cheating can help you escape now" he finished proud of his solution.

"Aaah such a pain" Kuro mumbled as he chose the course, sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration.

As they started the countdown, Kuro focused on the screen again and his car zoomed off before the countdown had finished leaving Mahiru behind in the dust. Mahiru started taking it seriously, starting to try and catch up to Kuro, sending a shell at his car that Kuro hadn't been expecting.

"Ugh no fair" Kuro said as his car slipped off the edge of the thin track.

"Coming from the cheater!" Mahiru shot back, sticking his tongue out childishly before continuing on the track, not noticing the curve up ahead as his car flung off the track. "God damnit!" After many more falls eventually the track ended, it was impossible to even get to the end. Kuro had made the track once and Mahiru had still yet to pass it.

"Jeez.. Why was that so hard" Kuro said yawning and laying his head back on the couch.

Mahiru let out giggles, throwing his head back next to Kuro. "Even Ais can't deal with Rainbow road" he said continuing to let out bubbly laughter, while Kuro felt that same strange twinge in his heart, like something was different.. Like something had changed, but he liked it. Whatever that light feeling in his chest was, he liked it.

"So you like to hack things huh.. Is it fun?" Mahiru asked calming down and sitting up on the couch facing him.

"eh? I uh.. I guess.. I don't really know" Kuro mumbled back in response quietly, quickly changing to "Well what about you.. Uh what stuff do you like?" He asked awkwardly.

"I like simple things!" Mahiru answered without a beat, making Kuro roll his eyes.

"I mean hobbies.."

"Ah right!" Mahiru laughed at his predictableness "Well.. I like cleaning and cooking"

"What kinda human likes cleaning..? You're weird" Kuro said bluntly, no wonder he knew nothing about Ais.

"Oi! That was unnecessary!"

"well you like cooking.. Do you want to cook something? I can't eat it but-" Kuro started off suggesting, Mahiru had played video games with him after all.

Mahirus eyes lit up at the suggestion "Kuro! What should we make, come on come on!" he said excitedly getting up and pulling Kuro towards the kitchen. As if on instinct he started looking through the cupboards for ingredients, "We have enough to bake a cake, let's do that! We can invite Ryusei and Koyuki over too" he said with a bright motivated smile.

"Ah sure, it doesn't matter too much to me.. What kind of cake?" Kuro asked curiously, following him into the kitchen.

"Vanilla, it's simple" Mahiru answered grabbing out the ingredients and laying them on the table.

"Eh, but cookies and cream is better"

"You can't even eat it you can't talk!"

Kuro simply shrugged and looked at the ingredients, he had no clue how to cook, he was sure he could find recipes but it was too much of a pain. "Don't you have like… things that make the food for you?" Kuro said wondering what he was planning, he hoped Mahiru wasn't thinking Kuro could do it.

"That's what you are" he said with a laugh, "We have ovens that can basically do everything for you, but I've always preferred it the traditional way" Mahiru said, it was true he had a normal oven and not a high tech one. Cooking was something he really enjoyed, he didn't understand why people let a machine take over a job like cooking.

"Ah I see… what sort of things do you usually cook?" Kuro casually asked while Mahiru finished unpacking ingredients and tools.

"I like to make things like cookies for my friends, cakes and meals like curry but I've done a bit everything" He answered handing Kuro a large mixing bowl along with flower, sugar and baking powder "Now mix that together, I'll turn the oven on" Mahiru said leaving Kuro to set the oven to the right temperature.

He turned back to see how Kuro was doing and noticed he was terribly failing at even mixing, as it got all over his face and the bench, Mahiru let out a giggle at him, walking over to go hold his arm and stop him from mixing it. "Kurooo noooo, it's like this" He said gently stirring the mix as Kuro wiped it off his face that seemed to be glitching slightly.

"Ah can you not handle liquids?" Mahiru asked as he saw Kuros figure slightly glitching at the parts he spilt the mixture on.

"Nah, it messes up our appearance. We're only supposed to touch solids" he said shrugging, "although it doesn't hurt me or anything so it doesn't really matter"

"Well I'm glad it doesn't hurt you, and see look it's done" Mahiru said with a smile, he worked fast since he did it often.

"Now we just add some more things in…" He said continuing to add in butter and other ingredients, "and put it in the tray, then leave it in the oven!" Mahiru finished those things up giving Kuro a thumbs up. "Easy!"

"Isn't this the hard way of doing it.. So troublesome" Kuro whined, but he couldn't help a slight fascination with it.

"It's the simple way!" Mahiru said with a huff "We have to wait a bit but not long, well tell me more about you! Is there any others like you?" He asked leaning over the counter.

"uh yeah.. Theres others.." Kuro replied quietly and sighed, Mahiru quickly got the hint to move on.

"Oh and decorating the cake! The best part" Mahiru said smiling and moving on, grabbing a lot of decorative edible things from out of the cupboard.

"Do you just have those on hand…"

"Always!"

He remembered to text Ryusei and Koyuki to invite them over, quickly grabbing his phone out and texting them. It worked out well too since he had to give Koyuki the things he asked him to get.

Mahiru noticed the cake seemed ready and took it out of the oven with cute oven mittens, placing it in the middle of him and Kuro.

"Hmm.. We have a lot of blue, how about a blue and white themed cake?" Mahiru asked as he looked over what they had to work with, "We could make it digital inspired for you" he finished with a grin, forming ideas in his mind.

"Eh- but I can't eat it..?" Kuro scratched the back of his neck nervously

"Even better reason, if you can't eat it at least it'll look pretty for you" Mahiru answered with a grin, he grabbed the icing and started off with a base layer of white around the cake. He filled up the piping bag with blue icing and started to go around the edges making a clean edge before making cute pixelated streams coming up the sides.

"Hey Kuro what do you think, flowers or stars?" Mahiru asked before continuing.

"Wow… uh flowers I guess"

"Hehe, didn't see you as a flower person, cute!" Mahiru smiled at him as Kuro spluttered at being called cute, before using the piping bag again to create small little flowers littering the cake, getting blue tiny edible sugar balls and putting them around like little pixels on the cake.

"What do you think?"

It looked.. Amazing, almost too perfect to eat. And it wasn't just the cake, when Mahiru smiled at him he felt.. Welcomed, like he had a home again. He had only been there a day but he liked it.

"It's.. Pretty…" Kuro said in admiration.

"Thankyou! It sucks you can't eat it" Mahiru put the cake to the side to cool. "Hmm we should invite them over for dinner too, and we can have it after. I think they'll really like you" Mahiru said proudly, moving the cake to the side.

Kuro took a moment to respond, fiddling with his thumbs and looking away awkwardly.

"I uh.. Mahiru..? Why are you so nice to me, you know I'm not human right.." He asked slowly, there had to be more than it was just 'the simple thing to do'.

"Hmm.. Well if you think and feel like a human, then you're no different from me. It doesn't matter what you look like, you're still.. You! So it's only fair I would treat you how I would anyone else" Mahiru replied without a hint of doubt, completely confident in his statement.

Kuro couldn't help the weird feeling in his heart, he was still.. Him? He was no different from Mahiru? Mahiru was planning on treating him like a human, like an individual… his face flushed in embarrassment, but he didn't want that feeling to stop.

"what a pain…" he mumbled, although it was clear Mahiru got the meaning as he grinned at him.

"On another note, I needed to pick something up for a friend today, you coming?" He asked standing up and lending a hand over to Kuro who took it nervously.

"Sure.." Kuro turned into his cat model, jumping onto Mahiru's shoulder and lying down comfortably. Mahiru gave him a small scratch behind the ear and headed out the door.

"Let's go, Kuro!"


	3. Monster

Mahiru walked out the door with a skip in his step, he was more than happy to do tasks for his friends but having someone there with him was nice. Kuro snuggled up under the warmth of his orange jacket, occasionally rolling around cutely. Mahiru watched him with ease, heading towards their school to pick up the design material for Koyuki.

It was peaceful and calm, it was late afternoon and no one was around aside from the few people on afternoon walks. Mahiru felt a light tapping on his shoulder, as behind him stood a strange man in a white lab coat who seemed very serious and almost instantly he felt threatened.

"U-uhm? Can I help you?" Mahiru asked him.

"That 'cat' on your shoulder. I apologize for the suddenness of my question, I'm a head at robocentrics and I couldn't help but notice you possibly had one of our models" He said watching Kuro on his shoulder.

"Yeah!" Mahiru said giving Kuro a scratch on the head to wake him up who was in the middle of taking a nap. Kuro awoke, seeing the man his red eyes darted away and he instinctively backed up. "What is it Kuro?" Kuro pulled at him, edging him to run away.

"I apologize for this, but we're going to have to take your AI"

"Wait- what?!" Mahiru said in shock, protectively taking Kuro into his arms.

"Don't worry! We'll upgrade you to the latest model, but we need to take it right away. It's a monster, a defect" He said his tone turning dark in hostility towards Kuro.

"He. Kuro's a he" Mahiru responded, not liking it when people referred to Kuro as an 'it', if he felt human emotions and feelings then he's the same as everyone else!

"It's not a he, it's a machine. One that went wrong. He's done horrible things we cannot disclose to you, please hand him over or we'll have to use force, we don't want an incident happening again" The man shot back, slowly walking forward to take him.

"What...?" Mahiru questioned, an incident? Horrible things? He knew Kuro was hiding things from him… but he didn't know if he wanted to know.

"A long time ago, Sleepy Ash was-" screeches and spluttering came from the man before he could finish his sentence, Kuro was no longer a small black cat but a taller full standing AI, one that just hit the man standing in front of him.

"K-Kuro?!" Mahiru flinched and jumped back slightly, he watched as blind rage flew across Kuro's face, a dangerous aura surrounding him. He refused to reply, his face darkening slightly as he moved to leave with Mahiru following behind eyes on the ground in fear. The man stumbled slightly and by the time he was going to yell out to Mahiru they had already left.

Mahiru stayed silent, finishing his trip to the store and grabbing things for Koyuki before leaving. Kuro turned into a small cat on the side of the road and sat on his shoulder, but the usual warm nuzzling was nowhere to be found. The dangerous aura had left him, but it was clear he was more closed off than ever, backtracking all of Mahiru's efforts to get him to open up.

"U-um let's go home Kuro" Mahiru said, he wanted to talk to him about it, but it could wait. If anything this only made Mahiru realize how human he really was- he was just like Mahiru. Kuro said nothing, choosing to not respond. They walked home in silence while Mahiru thought of how he could cheer Kuro up, he really didn't know anything about him.

Over the course of the day he knew Kuro, he had gotten ahead of himself, almost calling Kuro his friend. Soon enough they were back home, Kuro turned into a small launch pad version in Mahiru's palm under the white disc. Mahiru sighed, Koyuki and Ryusei would be there soon enough, maybe they could help?

Then there left the question of whether or not to tell them about Kuro. On one hand, it might be simpler to tell them the truth, but on the other hand they might freak out. It would be hard to explain an AI that made sarcastic remarks and refused to follow basic orders- but it might be harder to explain why a strange man was living at his house and where the AI he picked up on the street was.

"Hey don't forget my friends are coming over for dinner soon!" Mahiru said, "any suggestions for what to do with you?" Mahiru placed Kuro down on the kitchen bench and started to cook dinner, until a loud ring broke through the apartment.

"Hey Mahiru! Sorry we're a bit early, Ryu-chan got angry for forgetting the hardware- ouch! Mean!" "Yo sorry we're early" Two muffled voices came from behind the door.

Mahiru and Kuro made eye contact as Kuro quickly turned into his human form. "Shit."

"uhhHH- Act normal!" He shouted back, running to the door to let them in. "Aha hey guys!" he said, pushing a strand of hair behind his ear.

"You okay dude?-" Ryusei was in the middle of asking before Koyuki burst through "I wanna see the cat you picked up!"

Mahiru chuckled for a good couple minuets awkwardly, making a hasty choice to tell them half of the truth. "Well that cat was actually an AI model…"

Both Ryusei and Koyuki's jaws dropped. "What?!"

"And apparently it doesn't have an owner, I didn't really need one but I guess it's pretty cool. I got lucky" He said a bit louder so Kuro knew what was going on.

Kuro just stood there, how was he supposed to 'act normal'? Koyuki walked up to him in awe.

"Mahiru this is amazing! Lemme try lemme try- Get me a glass of water" He said to Kuro.

"The kitchens a couple of meters away get it yourself assho-" "KURO!" "Right away" he grumbled. Mahiru swore he felt a headache coming on, how on earth was he gonna hide this, it was so painfully obvious.

"It must learn from Mahiru's speech… that's amazing" Ryusei watched Kuro get Koyuki a glass of water.

Mahiru let out a sign of relief when they didn't question it, before giving Ryusei a glare when he realized the implications. "Well anyway, dinners not ready yet so make yourselves at home. Kuro will be helping me with dinner" He shooed them off into the dining room and dragged Kuro into the kitchen.

"Kuro we have to have a serious talk about your attitude" Mahiru said quietly as he turned on the oven to pre heat it and moved to the other bench.

"Yeah whatever mum, wake me up when I can do whatever I want again" Kuro yawned and sat down and fell asleep instantly.

"Hey that was never an option! I didn't even know Ais COULD sleep!" "Kuro is charging. Your AI will be finished charging when your friends leave" Kuro said in a robotic voice, clearly staged.

"You're fine! At least don't sleep on the kitchen floor weirdo" Mahiru brought the launch pad out of his pocket and brought Kuro back into it, allowing him to sleep for a moment. He'd have to get someone to tell him more about Ais, he knew literally nothing.

Mahiru huffed but let it go, at least he wouldn't have to deal with questions about Kuros sarcastic remarks and lazy attitude. That brought up the question of should he tell his friends? Something was bugging him, whatever the incident was, it was clearly bad. Was it a simple malfunction, or did Kuro mean it?

The records of the 'incident' whatever it was, would surely be online. But he didn't want to look it up, something in him was afraid of what he'd find or what Kuro would do if he found it. As he cooked and Kuro peacefully slept and charged Mahiru thought back to the demand.

Should he? The thought of giving Kuro to them sent shivers down his spine for reasons he wasn't entirely sure yet, until Kuro gives him a reason to treat him differently then he couldn't see a point to throwing him away. Kuro… just what the hell was he hiding?.

Mahiru turned off the oven and took the pot off, serving them all a decent sized bowl of curry. Before he had even realized it he had gotten out four plates. He sighed and put one away, using his finger to nudge Kuro's side to wake him. He could wait, he'd wait until Kuro trusted him to tell Mahiru himself. Mahiru refused to give them Kuro, not when he had made a precious friend.

"Kuro help me carry these to the table" He asked, giving Kuro a moment to wake up and leave the launch pad.

"Mmm whatever…" Kuro sleepily rubbed his eyes, a notion that was pretty cute actually… it reminded him somewhat of a panda with his dark eye bags. They picked up the plates and brought them over to the dining table, where Ryusei and Koyuki pulled out their chairs and sat down.

Mahiru sat down on the opposite side of the table, "Enjoy!" both Ryusei and Koyuki dug in, "Thanks for the meal!."

Mahiru watched as they stuffed their faces happily, but couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as Kuro stood where he was, tugging at his sleeves nervously, his face twisting into an uncomfortable expression. Was it always like that for him…? Kuro was stuck in the middle. He felt emotions like humans, Mahiru was sure he wanted to laugh and smile like humans too. He couldn't even sit down with them at dinner…

"Kuro what are you waiting for?"

Kuro, Koyuki and Ryusei let out a collective "huh?" in confusion and Mahiru just grinned motioning to the seat next to him. He didn't want Kuro to feel like that. A collective of feelings and memories from long ago resurfaced, watching as everyone passed him around. "I don't want him" "I can't afford another child" "Not me" "someone" "someone" "someone" No one wanted him, he was misplaced.

Kuro slowly walked up, giving Mahiru an unsure look as if to ask if it was okay and Mahiru just nodded. He pulled out a seat and sat down next to Mahiru. His friends looked at each other with a slight confused glance but didn't say anything about it, and everyone kept eating. Friends… did Kuro have any friends? He'd ask later.

"What were you guys doing before you came?" Mahiru asked, "Oh and would either of you like a drink?"

"Well we were _attempting_ to work on the project, but _someone_ forgot the hardware" Ryusei jabbed Koyuki in the side, who just nervously laughed and tried to dodge his attack. "Ryu-chan! Be nice! It was an honest mistake- ow ow ow!"

"Cut it out you two" Mahiru rolled his eyes at the squabble, "Koyuki do you have any new designs?" he asked curiously.

Koyuki lit up at the question "Yeah! Earlier I was sketching a plan I have for an old café, with no AIS or anything digital! There's gonna be a boring blackboard and I'm thinking cute retro booths? But it also could clash with the design and be too old, so I was also imagining a cute flowery theme with little pot plants around-"

Mahiru let him ramble on about his new designs, and unlike Ryusei who was listening intently and occasionally offering his opinion, Mahiru let his mind drift back to Kuro. Friends… the word wouldn't leave, did Kuro consider him a friend? Did Kuro want friends?

"Mahiru, Mahiruuuuuuuu oi!" He snapped out of it to see his friends waving their hands at him with concerned faces, "you okay? You were completely out of it" Ryusei asked him.

"Oh yeah I'm fine don't worry, just thinking"

"Someone as simple as Mahiru thinks?!" Koyuki exaggerated a shocked face, earning another hit on the head from Mahiru. "Abuse!..."

"We wanted to ask about your AI" Kuro raised his head at the mention of him, he felt like a deer in the headlights, looking nervously between Mahiru and his friends, everyone's eyes on him.

"I haven't had him long so I can't answer a lot but go ahead" Mahiru hoped they didn't ask anything he couldn't answer… he didn't like lying to his friends, he knew they deserved the truth. His plan was to dodge tricky questions as long as possible until it became impossible, then he could tell them. Mahiru hoped that day wasn't today.

"Later could I take a look at his programming? I've always wanted to look at one up close, it might be too complicated for me though" Ryusei asked.

"I mean, I guess…" Mahiru trailed off, unknowing to Kuro next to him making x's with his hands and mouthing 'no!' "It's not a problem" 'it is!'

Ryusei looked between the AI desperately trying to get his attention subtlety and failing, while Mahiru remained oblivious. "I have a gut feeling that your AI doesn't want me to look" he said chuckling.

"…Error" Kuro mumbled, his cheeks dusting pink in embarrassment of being caught. Ryusei and Koyuki both laughed at the hilarious reaction, almost forgetting he wasn't human.

"You really did get such a unique AI, it's amazing, it has such personality" Koyuki commented, smiling at Mahiru. Kuro… he dealt with that a lot didn't he, even though Koyuki meant nothing wrong, Kuro was still being treated like property or like an object.

"Mm…" Mahiru nodded in agreement, and soon after Koyuki and Ryusei had both finished up.

"Thanks Mahiru! That was delicious, your cooking is amazing as ever. Kuro can you take our plates to the kitchen?" Kuro bit back a snarky reply, it was obvious to Mahiru he was holding himself back. He got up and grabbed all their plates, taking them back over to the sink, Kuro wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Kuro can you bring the cake too?" Mahiru called out, and after he finished putting the plates down Mahiru watched Kuro come back out with the cake. He looked like he was holding the world in his hands, his legs slightly shook and he looked like he was gonna pass out. Mahiru wanted to ask if he was okay, but knew he couldn't.

Kuro put the cake down safely and visibly sighed in relief, Mahiru could only watch with concern. "I uh… I need to charge" He said with a monotone voice, but Mahiru could hear the anxiety and fear in it. "Can your charging wait?" Kuro blinked slowly, "Well you did help make the cake didn't you" He finished with a grin.

Maybe Kuro couldn't eat it, but he still wanted him there, instead of hiding away all alone. Without words Kuro came back to the table.

"Aaaah it looks amazing, of course only the best from Mahiru!" Koyuki looked at it in awe, and Mahiru grinned. "Thanks! It's mostly Kuro though, he put the flowers on, I agree flowers do look better than the stars" He added, giving Kuro a small thumbs up.

"…can't deal"

"Alright dig in guys!" Mahiru cut them each a careful slice, "Can I have more?" Ryusei asked pleadingly at the small servings Mahiru gave them. "No, it's unhealthy" He lectured, while Koyuki snickered. Kuro held in a chuckle at Mahiru mothering his friends, he really did care.

Kuro almost tried to slip away again, the obvious discomfort on his face again. He felt mis-placed, like a fourth wheel. "Hey Kuro, at some point I have to take you to our usual shop. It's pretty close" Mahiru said, bringing Kuro into the conversation.

"… I can't eat" Kuro forced the words out, almost turning to leave again, he didn't need more reminders of everything he couldn't do. "I know, doesn't mean you can't hang out with us! Wouldn't want you getting lonely by yourself here" Mahiru could have sworn he saw sparkles in the Ais eyes, his eyes widened and his eye brows raised.

"Really…?" "Well of course!" Mahiru looked over at the other two, who were whispering to each other. Crap. "S-something wrong?" Mahiru felt the confidence leave his voice the second the words came out, he didn't have the heart to lie. Surely they'd take it well? He just had to show them!

"Nothing…" Koyuki waved him off with a smile he didn't mean, Mahiru sighed, he could deal with a bit of judgement if it meant keeping Kuro safe. "It's just of course our Mahimahi would take care of anyone and everyone, even those who aren't human" Ryusei finished with a chuckle.

"Oi is that a compliment or an insult…" Mahiru hit them both on the head, but the smile on his face gave it away that he really wasn't mad at all. "And don't call me Mahimahi!"

"Oh and Koyuki I'll grab the stuff you needed" Mahiru grabbed the bag from the shops that sat on the side chair, handing it to Koyuki.

"Aah thanks Mahiru! I owe you one!" "You better not lose it again…"

"It's getting late so I'll take you to the door? I have to work on homework" Mahiru said, before suddenly seeming to remember something and adding "Also don't forget our study session after school! Ryusei I'm looking at you"

"It was one time…" Ryusei whined, but got up with Koyuki as Mahiru took them over to the door, a little speaker next to the door spoke 'byebye!.'

"Also… I know he's an AI, but give Kuro a chance, he's so full of personality and…" Mahiru tracked off, trying to get his point across.

"Kuro huh… well tell Kuro the cake was really nice! And he has good taste in decorations" Koyuki said with a smile, "Mm well I wouldn't say good taste in decorations but-" "Ryu-chan!"

Mahiru laughed, nodding gratefully. "Thanks you two. Get some rest" They nodded and headed off.

"Ah did I ever introduce them? That was Koyuki and Ryusei, they're certainly an odd pair but they're my best friends" Mahiru said smiling, "Koyuki thought you did well on the cake!"

"Me…?" Kuro looked somewhat surprised and taken aback.

"Hey Kuro do you… do you have anyone?" Mahiru asked slowly, being careful of the sensitive nature of the topic. "Any friends or family?"

"It's complicated." He responded back harshly, Mahiru was afraid but only for a mere second before his eyes softened. "Sorry… you don't want to know" Kuro continued, clearly feeling guilty for lashing out.

Guilt… that was something Kuro could feel too. "It's alright, take your time and I'll be ready to listen whenever you're ready to talk, _I'm_ your friend and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon" Mahiru responded, biting back the curiosity that sat at the tip of his tongue.

"… thanks… Mahimahi" Kuro added with a cheeky hint, receiving a glare from Mahiru.

"Ungrateful little-"

Even if it was only a small pixel move, or a small change in tone, Mahiru knew something changed in Kuro. For better or for worse, well he'd just have to find out. Mahiru sighed fondly, leaving into his room to continue his homework.

"What subject are you working on?" Kuro asked, lying on Mahiru's bed behind him and playing a hand held game (cheating as usual.)

"Tech… I don't understand a thing, why can't it just be simple" Mahiru lay his head on the desk in disappointment. Kuro seemed to perk up slightly, listening to what Mahiru was saying.

"Well… what don't you understand?" Kuro asked, and Mahiru gasped turning to face him. "Kuro… are you going to… help me?" he said hopefully and happily.

"Gah what a pain, you're bothersome… it's not a huge deal" Kuro said, awkwardly scratching behind his neck. It was really nothing, Mahiru was over doing it.

Mahiru clearly understood his embarrassment but was still stupidly smiling. "Well we have to understand magnetic technology, how and why it works. So things like our chairs and transport and floating things. It's so hard! Magnetic technology practically runs our world today, everything works different, what does he expect?!"

"Well… they all have different modifications because they have different uses, but they have the same base structure. For example a chair is only meant to hold a person, and a small bounce is fine. You can't have a bus carrying 20 people bouncing around, so it has to be a stronger connection" Kuro explained, looking over his shoulder at the text book Mahiru was trying to study, it used a whole lot of complicated terminology just to confuse people.

"It's really 'simple', just this" He grabbed a pen off the desk and drew a small simple system of how it worked. Mahiru watched curiously, and after Kuro drew the diagram it suddenly seemed to spark. "Oh! So it's like-" Mahiru quickly drew up his own version and Kuro nodded, flopping back onto the bed.

"Kuro you're amazing! Thankyou!" Mahiru smiled at him.

"I… can't deal" Kuro flushed and looked away, only causing Mahiru to smile brighter "too bright…" he mumbled to himself.

"Oh sorry is the lamp bugging you? Do you need to charge- how do you even charge?" Mahiru asked obliviously.

"Sleeping in the launch pad, and I slept earlier" Kuro decided not to comment on Mahiru's kind warm smile that seemed to light up the room.

"Well I do need sleep, I don't want to leave you outside so I'll bring the launch pad in on the bedside table. Goodnight Kuro"

"Night…" Thankyou, Mahiru.


	4. I'll protect you

Long silences were something he had grown to appreciate. Mahiru was already awake, but he didn't get up, an unusual occurrence for him. He didn't want to wake the peacefully resting Kuro, who was floating with his eyes closed inside the launch pad, a position that reminded him of someone lying in water.

Of course he wanted to know more about Kuro, about Ais in general. What else could Kuro do? What else could he feel? Maybe sometime he'd find out. It was also a Sunday, which raised the question of what to do with Kuro on Monday. It wasn't safe to leave him at home, it wasn't safe to leave any AI at home let alone a rouge AI that. Maybe as a cat…? He did think Kuro was a normal cat at first, maybe he can pass it off as a cat and keep Kuro in his bag.

It'd be a decent strategy to take him anywhere actually. Speaking of taking him places, they had to go to the café today. What else could they do… He'd watch a movie but it'd be weird going alone, or going just with an AI. When someone does things like that with their AI people… jump to weird conclusions.

"Wake up sleepy head" Mahiru poked the small sleeping Kuro, the disc made a few small beeps, seemingly stopping charging as Kuro opened his eyes. He groaned at being woken up, trying to charge again but the disc refusing to work with him. Mahiru snorted, his own technology refusing to work with him. Mahiru grabbed the disc and took it out into the lounge room, placing him on the table as Mahiru went into the bathroom to start brushing his hair quickly.

"Such a busy body…" Kuro grumbled as Mahiru ran around getting his usual morning routine done.

"Oi! I'm gonna get breakfast at the café, so I need to get ready" Mahiru finished changing into a casual pair of jeans and a shirt that said simple, finishing the outfit off with his usual orange headphones.

"Do you get along with other Ais, can you talk to them?" Mahiru asked, thinking about Lawless. Maybe they'd get along even if Lawless was a normal AI?

"It's like talking to a brick wall" Kuro said raising an eye brow "What were you expecting. They just reply what they're set to reply in a robotic voice with no emotion" He answered, turning into his cat instalment in the launch pad before jumping out to a life sized cat.

"Hmm…" Well Lawless certainly did have a personality, he couldn't rule out the possibility yet. "Anything else you wanted to do today? I have the whole day free" Mahiru asked him, Kuro opened his mouth to answer but Mahiru cut him off saying "just an fyi sleeping isn't an option."

Kuro seemed to have no more ideas. "Well… I want to get to know you more" Mahiru started, "After let's just take a walk, I pinky promise I'm not gonna ask anything personal, that's up to you whenever you're comfortable. I just, I don't even know your favourite colour, though I could probably take a good guess" Mahiru said with a smile.

"… Pinky promise what are you 5" Kuro mumbled, getting another hit on the head. Mahiru knew it was his way of saying he wouldn't mind.

"And you can ask me any questions as well alright? My life's pretty boring though" Kuro nodded in response.

Mahiru slipped a jumper on, grabbing his bag with his things and walking on as Kuro jumped onto his shoulder as a small cat, it had barely been a day and it felt like routine. Kuro really took the statement make yourself at home literally.

"Anything you need while we're out?" Mahiru asked, waiting only a few seconds before the next bus arrived and hopping on, noticing how it kept steady and remembering what Kuro taught him last night.

"A new game would be nice-" "Forget it"

They both stayed silent after that, careful of watchful eyes around. Mahiru was glad the company seemed to be leaving him alone, maybe they just decided to leave it? He highly doubted it though. He wondered what Lawless would think, well not think, he couldn't really think. Mahiru needed to remind himself that just because Kuro was different, it didn't mean every AI had thoughts and feelings.

Before no time they had arrived, but Kuro was sound asleep on his shoulder. Well whatever, at least Kuro wouldn't be talking and setting any alarm bells off for suspicious sassy remarks. He could wake Kuro up later, Mahiru just smiled, he deserved a bit of sleep, and maybe a new game.

He took the elevator up to the bar, sliding onto one of the seats as Lawless the usual worker walked up. Something was… different, he seemed, off. Maybe his programming was changed, but he appeared to be exactly the same, just with a dark cloud covering his eyes.

"Hey Lawless! You were right, I'm glad I picked up that cat" Mahiru said happily, it was Lawless that convinced him to do it after all. "I'll have the usual"

Lawless nodded in thought, "Say, tell me more about this cat" he said while beginning to make the milkshake. Mahiru noticed he didn't even make a comment on the fact that he was having a milkshake for breakfast, strangely enough that's exactly the sort of thing Lawless would love to tease him about. Maybe he could somehow sense Kuro was an AI, and was too interested in that.

"Well technically it's not really a cat, it's an AI" Mahiru said with a grin, Lawless looked shocked, something in him told him to be careful, a gut instinct told him it was fake shock. But he was an AI to be fair, his worry was uncalled for, he was impressed he could show expression at all.

"Wow… what's the tag?"

"Sleepy Ash! 25… 500? Im pretty sure?" Mahiru said, unbeknownst to the instant alarm bells he was setting off, unknowing of how every AI in the room turned to him, recording every word he said.

"Here's your milkshake! What's your AI like? Programmed it with anything special yet?" Lawless asked, handing him the milkshake.

Mahiru started sipping on the drink, nodding along. "Yeah, it's pretty standard at the moment though" Something seemed to click in Lawless as he nodded, leaning over the bar and resting his elbow on the bar and his face on the tips of his fingers.

"I see… well be careful, AIs are really high class things, they can _malfunction_ easily. You don't want to get in any trouble" Lawless said, a harmless smile on his face that somehow seemed a lot less harmless. His words brought Mahiru back to the incident… malfunction huh, is that what happened to Kuro?

"Thanks"

"Oh also! I have another part time job near here, you should come see me with your 'cat' sometime" Lawless said winking, only to get a glare from Mahiru who knew he couldn't hit someone elses AI.

"Of course you're self-promoting…" "Look I can get ya a discount! Just come see me, I work on weekdays"

Mahiru just rolled his eyes and said "Maybe" as he finished up the milkshake and slid it back to Lawless. "I gotta go but I'll see you round!" Mahiru hopped off the seat and left the café, happily rubbing the cats head. Maybe getting that game wouldn't be too hard…

"Wake up sleepy" Mahiru lightly flicked his forehead while walking, Kuro in response let out a small groan.

"Waking up such a cute kitty has to be a crime…"

"Is getting such a cute kitty the game he wanted a crime?" Mahiru said with a grin, bringing out the game and showing it to him. Seeing Kuro look so happy was for sure worth the money. Mahiru jumped onto the bus to go home, letting Kuro excitedly wiggle and sit up on his shoulder. It was almost like an actual cat, he couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

"Ah shit- I forgot my bag at the café" Mahiru said groaning, he opened the door and chucked Kuro inside. "Stay here I'm gonna go grab it" Mahiru ran back, jumping on a bus that was about to leave. By the time he had reached the café Lawless was gone… weird, didn't he always work at this hour? He was an AI so it's not like he took breaks.

'Hey guys Lawless disappeared, weird huh?' He quickly texted their group chat with Koyuki and Ryusei before grabbing his bag that was, thankfully, still there. It felt somewhat lighter than before.

Just in case he quickly dug through the bag to make sure nothing was gone, and to his confusion again the sheet with his address on it to give to the teacher on Monday was missing but his wallet remained in the same place? Why would a burglar take a stupid school sheet and not his wallet? Something was off.

'Guys… things are missing from my bag'

Something was wrong. This wasn't right. Mahiru zipped up the bag and bolted home, not bothering to wait for the bus and just sprinting the whole way home until he was stopped by a man who tried to get his attention.

"Excuse me sir do you have time to talk about our lord and savior the Daintree-" He started, Mahiru quickly brushed him off. "Not now-"

"Theres always time for the Daintree! Did you know that we have fire management protection level 2-" He started, rambling on about the Daintree as Mahiru struggled to interrupt him and leave, his breath quickening as he pulled at his sleeves. What the hell was this crazy guy on about?!

"Please for the love of god, I'm busy! I don't care about the Daintree, I don't even know what that is-" Mahiru said frantically.

"Oh of course! The Daintree is a large rainforest located in-" Mahiru groaned loudly, "Look-" something caught his eye. Robocentrics. Mahiru could feel his words caught in his throat, a distraction. Kuro was at home, alone, and he was-

Mahiru pushed him back, running as fast as his feet could take him back to his house. He fiddled with his keys at the door, slipping out of his hands he cursed under his breath. "Kuro?! Kuro are you in there?!"

No response, he must be napping right? Mahiru quickly unlocked the door and shoved it open. 'zzt zzt' sparks? The house seemed fine at first glance, until he walked into the lounge room where the man from before stood menacingly in front of Kuro who was holding his launch pad as if his life depended on it, and at this moment Mahiru was sure it did.

"Hey stop it!" Mahiru ran in front of Kuro and pushed him back. It didn't matter who he was, he couldn't just break into his house?! "I'm calling the police, get back!"

The man answered sharply, "The police won't help you now, we're not here to hurt you. Kindly give us your artificial intelligence and we'll be on our way" Mahiru shook his head, he refused to give up Kuro that easily! It was his fault they found Kuro… it was because of him being careless that Kuro's launch pad was damaged.

He clenched his fist, there was no way out. Mahiru dug through his bag, getting his phone out and clicking the emergency button desperately, there was no way the police would team up with him, it had to be a ruse! A lie!.

"H-hello? I need the police please hurry!" "T-theres a guy in the house and he's- Shirota Mahiru! Please please hurry- hey? Hello?!" The call line had been disconnected, there must have been bad signal, they would be coming wouldn't they? He called again desperately only to be denied.

No… he was right, even the police were in on it. Should he just give up…? He couldn't, Mahiru didn't know if he could bare the guilt if he let them take Kuro for his mistakes. He feels like everyone else, Kuro's a flower person, he likes napping and video games and hes really sarcastic but deep down he cares. He refused to believe Kuro was a monster, Kuro was hiding something he knew, but he could wait until Kuro was comfortable telling him.

Until Kuro was ready to trust him, Mahiru would wait. And he would wait with Kuro by his side. That being said it wasn't like he had some sort of plan… they had even prepared someone to distract him, clearly a well thought out plan. How did they even know he was out? Lucky coincidence?. He had to hurry, Mahiru grabbed the nearest thing he could from his bag, an old book.

Great.

He held it up attempting to seem threatening, but his confidence was knocked out from underneath him when he could see the man holding back laughs. Mahiru used all his strength to throw the book, it was a heavy book so maybe he could do something? Even if it just held him back while he ran. However the book missed, landing next to the man who calmly stood with a smirk.

"Sorry, try again" He brought out a mechanical gun from his back pocket, one that one sent out paralysing bullets. Mahiru knew it was over, what could he possibly do up against a gun?

"Mahiruuu open up! We got your texts and wanted to see if you were okay, did you get your things back?" Koyuki called out from behind the door.

Koyuki, no! Stay away! Mahiru frantically looked between the door and the man, he couldn't get Koyuki involved with this man, he was dangerous. He was about to shout that he was fine just busy until Kuro spoke up.

"Getting innocent people involved, I wonder how that would damage your reputation, possibly more than your failure to capture me" Kuro said slyly, hitting the bullseye as the man stood back.

"I'll be coming back, I except that you will have reached a sensible conclusion and hand him over by that time" He said darkly towards Mahiru before opening the door and pushing past a confused Koyuki and Ryusei, and Mahiru could hear him arguing with someone as he left. "The Daintree are you serious-" "It was all I could think of!"

"Ah? Who the hell was that- Hey isn't that Kuro?" Ryusei entered and saw Kuro holding onto his launch pad desperately, sparks flying from the damage and Mahiru who looked confused, angry and scared all at the same time.

It didn't matter who was in the room anymore. Mahiru knelt down and hugged Kuro tightly, his breath shaking as he apologized over and over again. Kuro spent all these years running… for it to be screwed up by him. Kuro tiredly rested his head on Mahiru's shoulder, no words were needed for Mahiru to understand Kuro didn't blame him.

"Ryusei we need you, I'll explain later" Mahiru turned back to them, letting Kuro go back into the launch pad. The image on the launch pad was distorted and glitchy, and it seemed to be making Kuro incredibly tired. "Please fix the launch pad"

Ryusei looked at it nervously, "I'll try but I'm really no technician…" "You're the best we've got." Ryusei took the launch pad and put it on Mahiru's desk, looking at the damage.

"Don't worry he'll still be fine even if I can't fix it, it's only minor damage, he'll just need more charge to function" Ryusei explained, taking apart one side and fiddling with the wires and lights. Mahiru nodded, gulping.

Kuro seemed to relax when Mahiru gave a small smile at him, occasionally wincing as Ryusei changed things, until it was done and he put the side back on. "You'll need to buy a new side though, since the outside is damaged, but the inside works fine now. On the bright side you can by coloured ones" He added.

Kuro pretty much fell asleep on the spot, charging up.

"Now for that explanation you owe us? Who the hell was that, why is Kuro damaged, How was Kuro able to feel pain-" Ryusei listed, the questions seeming endless.

"Okay okay I get it! I'll tell you the whole thing" Mahiru sighed and flopped down onto the couch, praying to god they'd take it well. "Kuro is an AI, but he's one that went rouge. I don't really know the details… he can feel everything just like humans can! And that horrible guy was trying to take Kuro away" Mahiru said, going on to talk about Kuro's hilarious sarcastic remarks and annoying laziness and personality, he didn't even realize he had been rambling on.

Ryusei and Koyuki shared a look before nodding, "You really like Kuro don't you?" Koyuki said with an accepting smile. Ryusei nodded in agreement and acknowledgment.

"A-h? E- I just- … Yeah, I do" Mahiru just looked down, embarrassed to admit it himself but he really had grown attached to him. "So that's why, I want to help him."

"Well I suppose a new friend wouldn't hurt" "We're building our forces, I'm telling you Ryu-chan we'll take over the world in no time!"

Mahiru laughed and smiled brightly, "Yeah… Thanks."

"Don't worry Kuro… I'll protect you, I'll get stronger and be someone you can rely on" Mahiru said to the charging AI, he knew Kuro couldn't hear, but it was a promise to himself. He didn't seem to notice the happiness developing on Kuro's blank face.


End file.
